In a display system, a plurality of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) may be used together as a single backlight unit (BLU). Each LED may be configured to provide light to a specific portion of a display area. Due to the point-spread-function (PSF) associated with it, an LED may leak light into neighboring portions on the display area, beyond a configured specific portion. Such light leakage degrades image quality and causes artifacts such as halos in the neighboring portions. The light leakage may significantly impact the ability of a display system to show fine image details in a high dynamic range.
In some approaches, light from an LED may be guided through a reflective channel and thus confined to a specific portion of a display area. However, a reflective channel typically creates a sharp change in light intensity around the edges of the specific portion of the display area. Pixels right outside the specific portion may receive too little illumination, while pixels inside the specific portion may receive too much illumination. This results in deleterious image effects. For example, if a character or an important image detail overlaps both sides of the specific portion, different parts of the same character or image detail may experience dramatically different light intensities. Consequently, it is difficult for a viewer to see the character or image detail.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section. Similarly, issues identified with respect to one or more approaches should not assume to have been recognized in any prior art on the basis of this section, unless otherwise indicated.